Dallas Mavericks forward Kristaps Porzingis is under investigation after a woman claimed that she was raped by the 7-foot-3 Latvian star.
The accuser said she was allegedly raped by Porzingis back in February 7, 2018, hours after the then New York Knicks star suffered a knee injury that would sideline him for more than a year.
Several former teammates of Porzingis gave their sentiments regarding the allegations, especially since it reportedly happened back when he was playing in New York
Lance Thomas, Porzingis' teammate with the Knicks for three and half seasons, told Marc Berman of the New York Post that he doesn't want to believe the accusations because he sees Kristaps as a great person.
“I don’t know the details and don’t care to know the details. He’s a great person. I don’t want to think of him in that light especially if it’s not true. I’m trying not to read anything about it for that reason. I haven’t reached out. Pretty sure his phone is blowing up.’’
Knicks' starting shooting guard Damyean Dotson is familiar with Porzingis' situation, as he went through a similar incident back in college which led to his expulsion from the University of Oregon — though there were no formal charges against him. Dotson said he loves and respects Kristaps and would rather not comment about the issue.
Article Continues Below“The KP situation, the first I heard about it was this weekend. My situation, everyone knows. Everything happened with that. You can look it up. I don’t have to break it down. I went through that at the combine and when I first got here.
“It’s still KP. I can’t comment on it. I have a certain feelings and love for him, so I don’t want to comment on it.”
Meanwhile, forward Mario Hezonja said he feels bad for Porzingis.
“I haven’t talked to him since a couple of days after he got traded. Of course I feel bad for him.”
Kristaps Porzingis' camp has since denied the allegations and is taking appropriate actions to deal with the issue. The Mavs, meanwhile, refused to comment, based on the instructions of federal authorities.
KP has been given the green light to take some time away from the team to deal with the problem, but he decided to stay around the Mavs.